Heteronormative Heroism and Queering the School Story in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series

Abstract

In re-creating the venerable genre of the boys' school story, the Harry Potter series infuses twenty-first-century concerns with gender and sexuality into a literary tradition dominated by same-sex educational institutions. This incarnation of the school story challenges regressive constructions of gender and sexuality in its apparent treatment of boys and girls as equals, but heteronormative heroism ultimately squelches gender equality and sexual diversity in favor of the ideological status quo. Harry Potter offers itself as a series of queer texts, yet their queerness never fully overcomes their investment in cultural normativity.